As heists go, these didn't have the daring of train robberies or the finesse of art forgeries or even the spoils of, say, an armored car job. Still, what David Scott Rough and Jose Mendez Flores pulled off two years ago deserves at least some mention, somewhere. Over the course of a year and in separate scams, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Rough and Flores cost the transit agency more than $1 million--perhaps much more--in lost revenues.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved a settlement Wednesday with the city of Los Angeles that frees $200 million in municipal funds for subway construction in return for the MTA's promise to begin building a San Fernando Valley rail line by 2007 instead of 2011. The settlement is designed to tie up the loose ends in a "recovery plan" sought by federal officials to show how the MTA will fund court-ordered bus improvements and the rail projects it has started.

The City Council voted Tuesday to endorse Gov. Gray Davis' $5.2-billion transportation initiative, saying it would provide funding for important projects throughout the city. Davis' proposal has already started to garner opposition in the Legislature and among some local agencies. Los Angeles officials were outvoted last week when the plan was opposed by the regional council of the Southern California Assn. of Governments.

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday asked the county Transportation Commission to investigate allegations of financial mismanagement and lax safety precautions on Metro Rail projects. Last week, four whistle-blowers called for a federal investigation into alleged problems, which they said ranged from the use of defective concrete in Metro Red Line tunnels to unauthorized spending by LACTC staff.

Modifying subway construction methods to minimize disruption to Hollywood Boulevard could add as much as $150 million to the cost of the district's four stations, the Rail Construction Corp. has estimated. The modification would involve constructing four Hollywood subway stations--along Hollywood Boulevard at Highland Avenue, Vine Street and Western Avenue, and one at Sunset Boulevard and Vermont Avenue--in artificial caverns rather than in huge holes dug in the street.

Using the Internet for the first time to receive bids, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority sold nearly $125 million in new bonds Wednesday to finance the Metro Rail subway and other transit projects. Top MTA officials were delighted with the competing bids submitted by six banks and brokerage houses and believe that the competitive approach may have saved the agency money on its borrowing costs.

Despite opposition by homeowners, a committee of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission voted Wednesday to increase by $63,900 the amount of money spent on an environmental report for plans to build a monorail over the Ventura Freeway.

The Hollywood leg of the troubled Los Angeles subway project is expected to cost $79.1 million more than anticipated and to open months later than promised, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials. The cost overruns were brought about by everything from a 1.6-million-pound underestimate in the amount of steel required for a subway station to $700,000 in unanticipated costs for a rock art project at another station.

The county's two major transit agencies should initiate across-the-board hiring freezes, restructure fares, reduce service and slash administrative costs to make up a $59.2-million budget deficit, a task force recommended Thursday. Rising costs and decreasing ridership have led to the shortfall, according to the task force appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. The panel estimated that the deficit could reach $1.

Winning a bare-knuckle political fight with Mayor Richard Riordan on Monday night, Latino and African American members of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board preserved $220 million for mass transit improvements on the Eastside and Mid-City.